Love is a silence waiting to be filled and brokenBliss is a blank heart waiting be touched and awokenPain is a vast empty void yearning to be easedSelfishness is glutinous hunger begging to be appeasedHappiness is a set of open arms eagerly waiting to embraceLaziness is a slothful runner who never tries to win a raceGreed is a hungry lion devouring every inch of your soulLust is a barren landscape stripping away everything you knowHopefulness is a breathtaking, breaking dawn in a cloudless sky Sadness is a hollow heart never knowing when to cryContentment is a colorful rainbow leading to a treasureSerenity is a quiet soul only God knows how to measure

All of the WordsRegina PuckettThere are words I thought and words I saidThere are words that bring hope and also dreadThere are words I heard and words I didn’tThere are words I wrote and words unwrittenThere are words in my mind and words I lostThere are words that came at too high of a costBut the words that I have loved more than any otherAre those spoken by my daughters, husband, father and mother

Cutting the StringsRegina PuckettHeading ninety miles an hour down the roadTrying my best not to crash and implodeThe windows are rolled all the way downLetting the wind quietly blow off this townThe music is turned up loud, filling my earsShutting out the cries of all of the puppeteers The strings have been cut and the ties all detachedFresh courses set and new adventures hatchedThe tank is full and the pedal is to the metalA decision has been made to move on and not settleLife is way too short and hearts are breakableBut spirits are high and hopes are unshakable

Ever once awhile and againI think back to where it beginA tracing of a fingertipA momentary trip and slipGoosebumps and shiversMoments sliced into sliversA pause and then a glanceWondering if there could be a chanceIf only time could somehow stand stillWhile our hearts drank their fill

Your Last DayRegina PuckettIf you knew this would be your last dayWhat would you choose to do or sayWould you try to slow down the seconds and hoursTaking some much needed time to smell the flowersHowever would you decide to pick or chooseThe moments to treasure or the ones to ultimately loseWould you finally be willing to say what your heart feelsOr would you waste these last hours making useless dealsWhatever it is you decide to do with your hoursPlease let part of these last moments be only ours

Losing MyselfRegina PuckettFeeling disheartened and disenchantedMy heart is broken and taken for grantedSo I’m slipping through Alice’s looking glassTaking off down the brick-lined road and running fastWhere I’m thumbing my nose at what is expectedAnd leaving behind these feelings of being rejectedI wouldn’t bother looking for me because I’m offNo longer worrying about those who ridicule and scoffWhere I’ll be running mad-hat crazy with the Cheshire CatAnd no longer wearing this ill-fitting everyman’s pain or hatSo if you see me dressed just in a wide, genuine grinRemember back to a time when I would have beenYour heart’s best friend and biggest fanBut now I’m losing myself in Wonderland

Love IsRegina PuckettLove is a mystery that hides behind many disguisesIt often comes wrapped in different shapes and sizesBut it is a gift that is often rejected and refusedBecause the wrapping may appear to be old and usedSo the next time you see the gift sitting on your door stepThink carefully about what you lose if you refuse to acceptBecause while beauty may be in the eye of the beholderLove doesn’t diminish just we may have grown older

My TicketRegina PuckettI was given this special ticket to lifeBut I was horrified by its constant strifeSo I tried shutting out all of the confusionBy choosing my own quiet seclusionBut life continued knocking on my doorWith its constant babble and continuous roarSo I barred and padlocked each entranceWith a smug and irresponsible arroganceThinking that would stop all life’s chattersForgetting I was also shutting out what matters

HonoringRegina PuckettBlessed with an indelible spirit,Determination, liberty and gritWe stand proudly behind eachDeclaration and freedom of speechWe the people of these United StatesFace Lady Liberty and her justice of weightsWe appreciate our women and menOur soldiers who gather us like a mother henUnder the safety of their protection and careThey deserve our loyalty and every prayerThey bravely charge into each and every frayNever knowing if it will be their last dayThis nation proudly honors each oneFather, brother, daughter and favorite son